As the number of ICE arrests in Maine continues to grow, one group is raising money to help detainees pay for phone calls and commissary items while in custody.
Mainers for Humane Immigration has been around since 2019, according to Marcia Garnecky, one of the group's volunteer organizers.
Garnecky said they've sent money to over 60 people in ICE detention since April.
"We're hearing about overcrowding. We're hearing about freezing cells. The lack of food or inadequate food are the most common things we're hearing," she said.
In addition to commissary support, Garnecky said her group will in some cases help cover the cost of transportation back to Maine after someone is released from a detention facility out of state.
"Which would entail, say, paying for a bus or plane to get home, because people are often thousands of miles away if they're released," she said, adding that her group has seen Maine residents transferred to detention facilities in states as far away as Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana.
Earlier this summer a separate coalition of Maine groups launched a similar fund to support immigrants and trans people.
